“Acts of Service is my love language,” I tell her. “It was a romantic gesture.”
Her lip twitches as she fights a smile. Then she remembers that this is serious, and she’s letting a murderous lunatic grope her right now. I can see the war in her eyes, but I need her to verbalize it.
“Does it bother you?”
“Weirdly, not as much as it should,” she confesses. “I have a strong sense of justice, probably because I feel things too deeply and absorb others’ pain. To me, things are either right or wrong, and it doesn’t make sense when the wrongs aren’t corrected. Like once, eight years ago, I read an article about an animal abuser so horrific, I still think about it. That person is evil, but the courts don’t treat it as a serious offense, and…sorry, I’m getting sidetracked.”
I smile at her from beneath the mask, grazing my knuckles along her thigh. “I like your tangents. Keep going.”
She gives me a small nod. “I understand people are complex, but we’re responsible for our own choices. When someone chooses cruelty, I lose compassion for them. Maybe that makes me twisted, but to me, justice means making sure they never get the chance to hurt anyone again. And truthfully, if you hadn’tdone it, I have people who would have. In my world, offenders don’t get second chances.”
Her response relieves me more than she could ever know. It isn’t something we’ve talked about before. She knew my family well enough not to ask about my role in the business. But maybe I shouldn’t be surprised, considering she didn’t mind Aegis handing out poison to abuse victims.
“Also, you don’t have to worry,” she rushes out. “My guard scrubbed the security footage in the neighborhood, so nobody will see us on it.”
“That was nice of him.” I smirk.
She reaches out hesitantly, tracing a finger along the edge of my mask, as if she’s wondering what I might look like beneath it.
“Are you really a student at Laurelhaven? Or are you a part of…”
Her words drift off, but I suspect that sentence would have ended withCosa Nostra. I’m contemplating how I want to answer that when she changes her mind.
“Actually, forget I said that. I don’t want to know.”
“Keeping things casual?” I try to make it sound like I don’t hate that word with every cell in my being.
“I think it’s better this way,” she says softly.
I pick her up, and she lets out a little yelp as I plant her on my lap, wrapping her legs around me. She’s so soft and inviting, I can’t decide what I want to do to her first. But Gabi gets distracted when she notices the bouquet of black and pink roses on the nightstand—along with a slasher-themed sticker that says "I’d kill for you."
“Oh God.” Her eyes widen.
“Too soon?” I ask.
She laughs and then tries to stifle it. “We’re both going to hell, you know that? That is some very dark humor.”
“At least we’ll be going together.”
“Thank you for the roses,” she murmurs, working up the courage to ask her next question. “What do you want to do now?”
“Want to make out again?” I phrase it like a joke, but it definitely doesn’t feel like one.
She bites her lip and nods, and tension settles in my balls. I’m so fucking hard for her it’s uncomfortable.
“I want to kiss you everywhere tonight.” My hands roam over her, greedy to explore every inch of uncharted territory.
She hums her approval, the sound heating my blood.
“I need to hear you say it.” My fingers ghost along the hem of her top, drawing a shiver from her. “Tell me you want me to strip you bare and lick your pussy.”
“Oh,” she breathes. “Yes. I want you to do that.”
My chest rumbles with visceral satisfaction as I slide my hand beneath the material of her shirt and palm her breast.
“Wait,” she says. “I want to make an amendment to our plan.”
“What kind of amendment?”
